Notable Quotables: Reaction to the Derek Carr contract
By Justin Smith
Social media reaction to the record-setting contract extension signed by Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr.
Derek Carr, the franchise quarterback of the Oakland Raiders, is now the highest paid player in NFL history thanks to a five-year, $125 million contract extension.
Derek, as his way, confirmed the signing on his Twitter account with great enthusiasm:
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network was the first to confirm, of course. And then the comments degenerated from there…as usual. It’s always gotta come back to LeBron and MJ somehow.
Coach Jack Del Rio minced no words about how he feels — he loves this signing and his QB.
And of course, many Chiefs fans who only wish Carr was their quarterback hung their hats on his poor play against them to rationalize why he’s not worth what most are saying he is:
https://twitter.com/ChaseMikeHager/status/877904099211067392
We get it. He hasn’t played well against the Chiefs. What about everyone else? Keep clinging to that dream Chief fans — it’s done you well so far. We’ll see if he’s healthy in both games this year.
Players in the know, like former Raider Brice Butler, who played with Carr his rookie season in 2014, had praise for the young leader:
As did numerous other opponents. Much respect given the young, talented leader throughout the NFL:
Weddle’s beard even corrected its owners grammar in the comments. Well played.
Teammate Oni Omiole congratulated him on making mediocre NBA-caliber money:
https://twitter.com/Oni_Omoile/status/877896913772826624?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Raider monster and Twitter superstar Kelechi Osemele weighed in with his congratulations:
And also loved his cousin’s NBA Tweet:
While Derek’s brother David was looking at things from a personal pragmatic standpoint:
As the comments say — perhaps a little more than lunch with that type of bank. David may not be in for a haircut, but that lifetime supply of hair gel is looking pretty good about now.
Former NFL safety and family friend Hamza Abdullah had high praise for David and the Carr family:
A quickie poll wondered if Carr was worth that money – survey says….
https://twitter.com/NFL__SportsFan/status/877722512922116096
Adam Schefter angling to be Carr’s new accountant, perhaps?
NFL Network’s Adam Rank points out how far the Raiders have come, and why paying Carr is a good idea. Wish the Raiders still had Pryor at WR, to be honest…
“Faux” John Gruden got in the act with a truly terrible pun – so maybe it’s not “faux” after all:
Raider Nation was universally positive on locking up their franchise QB – and pretty optimistic:
@RaidersReporter, a friend of JBB’s over at Black Hole Banter (give a follow!) called this maybe one of the most significant moments in Raiders history. He’s right with some good reasons why:
This was so significant, even new Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing got in on the act. Downing is such a newbie his account isn’t certified and he’s sent exactly 17 tweets in 2 months:
And finally, Rappport confirmed details of the contract:
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That’s got to make Mr. Carr a very, very happy man.
As you can see, the prevailing feeling from NFL media, front office staff, teammates, opponents, friends and family (pretty much everyone except Chiefs fans, really) the reaction has been universally positive to this move.
As Carr himself tweeted, this allows the distraction of the contract to go away and football to be the focus. Carr is looking healthy after breaking his fibula last year and hoping to repeat an MVP-caliber performance. There are new weapons in the arsenal in Marshawn Lynch, Jared Cook, and Cordarrelle Patterson. The defense is deeper, more experienced and more talented.
It’s time for the Raiders to cement themselves in the upper echelon of the NFL, and this signing goes a long way to ensuring that possibility at least through 2022.